ABFA Chapter 58

As the first group approached the single-story house, Jiang Yue jumped down from the roof.

She landed like a light, graceful bird, her pitch-black long blade blending seamlessly into the night.

Leaning against the window, the Chubby Boss shouted, “Li Si, want me to light a lamp for you?”

Jiang Yue’s hand holding the knife trembled slightly, a bit regretful of the name she had casually made up.

It was all Zhang San’s fault.

Jiang Yue’s eyes would turn into vertical pupils whenever her emotions surged. Long, long ago, only beasts had such eyes, and they granted excellent night vision.

Jiang Yue shouted, “No need to light a lamp, I’m a bit faint at the sight of blood!”

The Chubby Boss swore, “Damn it, Li Si, can you even handle this or not?!”

“Shit, enough talk, they’re coming!”

Jiang Yue had already come up with a few imposing lines in her head to steel herself; things like, “Whoever trespasses on my house, no matter how far, shall be executed,” or, “If I want to kill you, do I need to check the date?”

But when the real fighting began, she didn’t get a chance to say any of them.

Bandits don’t exchange pleasantries before a robbery; everyone goes straight for a quick resolution, not a single word of nonsense wasted.

The first group of bandits had eight people in total, each over two meters tall. As they approached from afar, each of them held a red, glowing object about one and a half meters long.

Jiang Yue was still wondering why they’d come to rob the place carrying what looked like glow sticks. But when they drew closer and she took a good look; damn, they were actually red-hot metal rods!

Fuck!

That’s vicious as hell!

The eight of them charged at Jiang Yue, each gripping a glowing red metal rod. Just as the first blow was about to come crashing down on her head, Jiang Yue swung her blade hard. The rod and the blade collided violently, and the branding-iron-like metal rod was cut clean in two at the waist.

The momentum of the blade didn’t stop. Chang Geng was extremely heavy, every swing carried tremendous inertia. The unstoppable arc of the blade swept across his arm, and blood burst out like a fountain.

Jiang Yue forcibly checked the blade’s motion, and only then did the two-meter-tall bandit avoid being cut clean in half.

In a real, flesh-and-blood fight, all that lofty bravado amounted to nothing. When another iron rod swung toward Jiang Yue’s waist, she didn’t hold back. Chang Geng surged forward with overwhelming, crushing force, after slicing through the metal rod, it went on to hack off half of the man’s shoulder.

The Chubby Boss, frantic at the window, jumped up and down. “Li Si, why the hell are you holding back?! Did you want to sleep with them or something?! You’re wielding Chang Geng, not some lovey-dovey blade! Even their lovers aren’t as gentle as you are!”

Even in the midst of the tense battle, Jiang Yue couldn’t help rolling her eyes.

She could have used the eye-parasite ability, but innocent people with matching brainwave frequencies might be affected. Its range of infection was even more terrifying than a plague, far too uncontrollable.

In a moment of distraction, Jiang Yue failed to control the momentum of her blade. As she swung it horizontally, she didn’t pull it back in time, and the third man’s head was instantly sliced off and sent flying.

Arterial blood sprayed more than two meters into the air.

Jiang Yue felt like she was going to vomit.

The hand gripping her blade began to tremble.

In Harry Potter, Voldemort had to kill someone each time he made a Horcrux, because killing is an extremely evil act that causes the soul to split apart.

Jiang Yue felt as though her soul had fractured just like Voldemort’s. His soul split into eight pieces, hers felt as if it had shattered into countless fragments. She could sense that something had vanished from her soul forever.

Oh God!

Am I a demon?

But I’m clearly doing something righteous!

This scene effectively intimidated the bandits who had been watching from the sidelines. In a life-and-death fight, showing mercy is an extremely foolish thing; put nicely, it’s saintly; less politely, it’s just plain idiotic.

Everyone present had blood on their hands, and with a single glance they could tell: that female Alpha might fight fiercely, but she was just a novice who had never killed before. Even in a life-or-death struggle, she still hesitated, holding herself back in a way that was completely out of place.

Her aura had already changed.

All truly fearsome weapons are forged through countless lives.

Jiang Yue’s mindset had indeed shifted. At first, her whole body had turned cold, her palms slick with sweat, she had almost lost her grip on the blade.

But once she steadied herself, she suddenly felt that it wasn’t such a big deal after all.

She tightened her grip on Chang Geng and recalled what Pan Bu’en had once said—so long as you know what you’re fighting for, you’ll be able to wield it well.

What am I fighting for?

She kept asking herself this question in her mind, until a voice echoed from deep within her heart.

“You can drift with the tide. You can exile yourself. You can be mediocre and incompetent. You can be foolish and cowardly.”

“You don’t have to become a hero in anyone’s eyes, but there are moments when you must stand up.”

“This is the reason I am here, holding a blade, and standing against these people.”

Another ten-man squad approached, each carrying weapons, extremely long spears.

There’s a saying that “longer weapons have the advantage,” but long weapons have a common flaw: they bend and break easily. Moreover, these trash-tier scum wouldn’t have access to proper materials for forging decent weapons anyway.

Jiang Yue effortlessly severed those spears. She no longer restrained Chang Geng’s momentum; once she struck, she showed no mercy.

The ten-man squad was completely annihilated.

Chang Geng’s blade tip dripped with blood. From the window, the Chubby Boss watching the battle broke into a delighted grin.

“Not bad, Li Si, you’ve got skills! I think you’re really something now!”

Jiang Yue panted lightly, wordlessly planting Chang Geng upright on the ground.

She leaned on the blade. Her vertical pupils shimmered with a faint silver-gray glow in the night. Those bandits who had intended to take advantage of Pan Bu’en’s illness and loot the Omegas for profit gradually retreated.

Jiang Yue returned to the single-story house with her blade in hand. The veteran and Pan Bu’en were both looking at her with complicated expressions.

Jiang Yue suddenly gagged while sitting on the kang bed. The Chubby Boss hurriedly pulled a piece of candy from his pocket and handed it to her.

Jiang Yue shook her head and slumped against the wall like she had no bones left. The chChubby Boss then pulled out a cigarette from his pocket and offered it to her.

She glanced at it, then reached out and took it. The boss lit it for her with a lighter he produced from his pocket.

Jiang Yue took a drag, and immediately the smoke choked tears out of her eyes.

“Cough, cough, cough—cough, cough, cough.”

The Chubby Boss was shocked again. “Wait, how can someone like you not even know how to smoke?”

Jiang Yue felt mildly offended. “What do you mean ‘someone like me’? Why would I need to learn how to smoke?”

The Chubby Boss gestured emphatically. “I mean someone who’s radiating that big-shot aura all over the place. Honestly, even if you were smoking an active volcano, I wouldn’t find it strange.”

The Chubby Boss clearly had some talent for comedic banter.

Jiang Yue was speechless. She awkwardly held the cigarette between her fingers and took a drag with a weathered expression.

The smoke was harsh, almost painfully so, but it did suppress that nauseating feeling.

In old costume dramas, heroes would always laugh three times after killing someone, then down an entire jug of wine in one go.

Maybe that wasn’t boldness at all. Maybe it was just them forcing down their nausea without showing it.

Jiang Yue’s thoughts drifted again. Her mind often wandered off course, and once it did, it was hard to pull back.

The cigarette burned down between her fingers. She flicked the ash to the ground, a faint sense of melancholy settling in.

The Chubby Boss poured her another cup of hot water. After finishing it, Jiang Yue lay down on the kang bed and asked Pan Bu’en, “Old Pan… will those people come back?”

Pan Bu’en replied, “They will. When survival becomes everything to humans, the darkness in their hearts is amplified without limit.”

Jiang Yue said softly, “Right now, survival is my whole life too, but I don’t feel any evil inside me being triggered.”

Pan Bu’en smiled, looking at her with an almost paternal gentleness. “No, child. It’s just that you haven’t reached that point yet. Don’t trust human nature, and don’t overestimate yourself.”

Jiang Yue scratched her head awkwardly.

In his old, deep voice, Pan Bu’en continued, “That’s nothing to be ashamed of. Perfection is not something worth praising. A person’s entire life is a struggle against themselves. Those who win that battle, no matter how ordinary they may seem, are all heroes.”

Jiang Yue felt that Pan Bu’en wasn’t quite right.

After transmigrating, she had changed so much, and yet she still ended up living like this mess of a person.

Some people are born into poverty, some into wealth. Some are born heroes, others born cowards.

In any case, she had absolutely nothing to do with the word “hero.” She simply didn’t have the kind of consciousness a hero was supposed to have.

Just like countless ordinary people: today she might make detailed plans and swear she would absolutely get them done even if it killed her, but by tomorrow, she would find she hadn’t done a single thing, still lying on the sofa in a complete “Ge You slump¹this pic: ,” snack in one hand, phone in the other, scrolling through short videos and laughing like an idiot.

Jiang Yue was just about to fall asleep on the kang bed when the Chubby Boss beside her started snoring softly. She turned her head in exasperation, intending to push him awake, but he was already sleeping soundly, his head tilted to one side.

That was when she noticed a deep scar on his neck.

It was where a gland used to be.

On Garbage Star, many Betas, in order to survive, would remove their glands and then take hormones to make their bodies stronger.

Never mind.

She was an Alpha anyway. She had endured the cruelty of sleep deprivation torture before, one sleepless night wasn’t anything worth worrying about.

After a sleepless night, early the next morning, Jiang Yue dragged herself up onto the rooftop to patrol with hollow, unfocused eyes.

An Alpha wearing the same kind of synthetic fiber clothing as hers walked over, it was obvious they had bought it from the same tailor shop.

This Alpha looked to be under thirty. He had a refined, scholarly appearance, with slightly curled brown hair that gave off an oddly elegant, almost “well-dressed beast” vibe.

He came empty-handed, carrying no weapon. In situations like this, people usually fell into one of two extremes—either a true master or a complete rookie.

Jiang Yue prepared to draw her blade.

The male Alpha waved at Jiang Yue and gave her a wide smile. Eight pearly white teeth gleamed brightly under the sunlight.

On Garbage Star, people’s teeth were usually dull gray. This was the whitest set of teeth Jiang Yue had ever seen, aside from her own.

She jumped down from the roof, drew Chang Geng, and said coldly, “Who are you?”

The man smiled at her again, in an especially infuriating way.

He circled around Jiang Yue, sizing her up. “Tsk tsk tsk, not bad, not bad at all, starting to look like a proper human being.”

Jiang Yue recognized his voice.

“Zhang San, why are you here?”

The Chubby Boss poked his head out of the window, eyeing Zhang San warily, and asked Jiang Yue, “Li Si, who is he?”

Jiang Yue replied, “A morally depraved, mentally twisted outlaw.”

Zhang San curled his lips and raised an eyebrow, then extended a hand toward Jiang Yue. “Li Si, long time no see!”

Jiang Yue felt completely numb.

Why did she even have to be called Li Si?!

It was all Zhang San’s fault!

She struck his palm lightly with the hilt of her blade. “Why did your hair grow back?”

Zhang San shook his head casually. “Oh, a scavenger tried to rob me. I noticed his hair quality was pretty good, so I shaved him bald. This is a hair transplant from a salon.”

Jiang Yue: “……”

She kept a straight face. “What are you doing here? I’m not exactly welcoming you.”

Zhang San rolled his eyes at her. “Wow, that’s a bit self-important, don’t you think? Who said I came looking for you?”

Jiang Yue frowned. “Then who are you looking for?”

Zhang San replied, “An old soldier surnamed Pan. He used to be called Pan Yue, now he goes by Pan Bu’en.”

 

 

 

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